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Sajid Javid Deliberately Collapsed British Steel | Craig Murray

Sajjid Javid was on a jolly to Australia when Tata announced it was going to sell its UK steelworks. That’s how much the UK business minister cares about UK business.

The Conservative show of dashing home to look after the British steel industry is just smoke and mirrors. Savid Javid was fully aware it was being collapsed by subsidised and dumped Chinese imports, but argued that this cheap Chinese steel was beneficial to the UK economy more generally. Arguing against higher EU tariffs on Chinese steel dumping, Javid stated to MPs only six weeks ago

“The responsibility of government is to look at the overall impact on British industry and jobs,” the Business Secretary said.

“If duties get disproportionate it would have an impact in Britain and elsewhere on consumers of steel. Those businesses tell us it will cost jobs and exports if duties got out of control…

“To go further might in the short term look the right way to go to protect industry but you have to remember in Britain there are also companies that consume steel as part of the production process.”

This is pure Thatcherism. On Javid’s instruction, last year the British diplomatic mission to the EU (UKREP Brussels) was lobbying the EU commission against higher punitive tariffs on Chinese steel than the 13% the UK supported – even though the Commission found that dumped Chinese steel had an effective state subsidy of up to 72%. I have this from a British diplomatic source.

So the apparent flurry of activity now is a blind. This is a situation the government was quite happy to see develop. Of course, the effects are in Wales, Scotland and Northern England. There are no steel mills in Tory constituencies.

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Just to add to the woes of the poor steelworkers they will probably face sanctions in the short term. Only manual workers not bankers so why should the tories even consider helping them. Just like the miners under the witch.

The Tory ambition to finally destroy what was left of the strength of the sixties big three Unions is achieved. The miners, rail and steel were the three major nationalised industries and their leaders were major players in industrial relations and economic planning. They could command a seat at the table. They, especially the miners, were seen as bringing down Heaths government in the 70s and Thatcher blamed them and despised them. She determined to destroy all three, particularly the miners. The destruction of Britains manufacturing base was just collateral damage in their ideologically driven revenge.

the steel industry is merely the latest sacrifice on the altar of Thatcherism. This execrable government has actively intervened in Europe to prevent much needed tariffs being placed on Chinese steel, unlike in the US where massive tariffs were imposed to protect American steel manufacturing.

In fact far from ‘doing all they can’ to support our steel industry they’ve deliberately intervened to undermine and destroy it. So now we have to import steel to build our naval ships, tanks, cars and major infrastructure such as HS2 and our international suppliers know it so will accordingly jack up their prices making them more expensive.

Apparently this erk believes in Ayn Rand and the Free Market fairy tale. Free Markets do not and cannot exist. It only takes one trader to act outside the ‘rules’ and the whole ball of wax collapses. An example here is the Chinese & steel. No free market here, and the Chinese plainly are not believers so we are getting shafted. The concept of the Free Market only exists to benefit marketeers in reducing regulation such as safety, environmental, etc. in pursuit of profit and the rest can go hang. In other words Free Market is a sham.

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